ScreenCrush’s WookieLeaks is a weekly roundup of everything ‘Star Wars‘! From ‘Star Wars: Episode 7,’ to the upcoming spinoffs and the TV shows, if it pertains to that long ago, far away galaxy, we’re covering it here, bringing you our expert analysis. This week, we parse through a whole bunch of crazy new rumors, learn when ‘Star Wars Rebels‘ will premiere, and salivate over a new ‘Star Wars’ board game.

Let’s Go Over Those Crazy ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ Rumors

Right on the heels of last week’s WookieeLeaks, something crazy happened: ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ rumors started falling from the sky. Actually, a few sites decided to drop new rumors and details at the same time, which led to each site attempting to one-up the others in the ‘ Star Wars: Episode 7′ scoop war, which led to a great day for people looking to learn more about this mysterious and exciting project. Let’s not beat around the bush on this one — there’s too much to absorb.

And of course, potential spoilers lurk below this sentence.

Latino Review was the first to drop a huge bombshell, claiming to know the identity of the ‘Episode 7′ villains. And they are … drumroll, please …

The Inquisitors are the villains of Star Wars: Episode VII and the name of the main villain in Star Wars: Rebels. They seem to be loosly based on the now-deleted Expanded Universe Inquistors mixed with the hardended Sith look of Rebels’ villain. The Inquisitors are defenders of the Sith Order and they’ve been around for a long time. Just how long is what turns Episode VII’s story on it’s head.

The Inquisitors will be seen serving Darth Vader in flashback.

Yes, Darth Vader will be on screen, briefly, in Star Wars: Episode VII.We’re not done with the dark prince of the Sith quite yet.

If this is true (and several sources have chimed in to corroborate the basics of it), then ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ is looking to rewrite and rewire the history of the ‘Star Wars’ universe in some really huge ways. Darth Vader may be dead, but the thought of him haunting the films going forward is just plain tremendous.

Meanwhile, Badass Digest chimed in with more details, giving us a detailed description of the main bad guy. As you can see from the description below, he sounds terrifying:

There’s a main Inquistor villain (I don’t know his name) Want to know what he looks like? He wears a black robe. His eyes are deep red. And half of his face is metal. He’s a cyborg. That was his hand in the picture JJ Abrams shared with the note about A Force For Change.

Could this be the villain Adam Driver is playing? That’s where we’d put our money. And believe us, we’d put our money anywhere we needed to in order to see cyborg Adam Driver terrorize the galaxy.

Not to be outdone, Indie Revolver jumped on this as well, providing an even more detailed description of the baddie … and a blurry piece of concept art, giving us our first look at him. Wow.

It’s true that the main villain of Episode VII is a Sith Inquisitor. He’s tall and thin and terrifyingly creepy, with glowing red eyes to match his red lightsaber. He’s got some robotic upgrades, like Vader – but no mask. The cybernetic bits weave in and out of him. He’s got a human upper lip, a steel jaw… and the robotic hand that JJ Abrams posted an image of. As LR mentioned, we’ll see flashbacks in this movie which will show us Princess Leia as a young girl and Vader’s involvement with the Sith during his prime. This inquisitor has a fascination with Vader through the movie’s timeline as well though – just look how he stares at Vader’s shattered helmet in this image:

Indie Revolver

Let’s step away from the villains for a moment and take a look at a few more rumors that come from less solid sources. Collected by Making Star Wars, these are your typical “source close to the production”-style reports, where we’re not sure if they’re B.S. or not (the outlets above have very solid track records). First up: could Gwendoline Christie’s Imperial commander be a descendant of Count Dooku?

Count Dooku Connection – Back when Benedict Cumberbatch was a rumored addition to the cast, a rumor was that his character was a descendant of Count Dooku. This was true. This connection was then moved onto Gwendoline Christie’s character.

And then there’s this description of a cool piece of concept art, which shows an older Princess Leia having a diplomatic meeting with a bunch of Hutts. It makes sense! After all, Leia would be in the best possible position to help run the galaxy and keep things in order.

Leia and the Hutt’s – There was a production sketch done very very early on which showed Princess Leia standing in the middle of several Hutts. She was wearing a maroon dress (political style) and was flanked by two soldiers (they looked to me like the Naboo guards from Phantom Menace but to others they looked like the rebel soldiers from the beginning of A New Hope.) The picture looked as if she was having a meeting with them. She certainly didn’t appear to be captive or under threat. I have no idea if this sketch has anything to do with the movie that is being shot as it was very early on.

Old Han Solo and the New Kids

Ah, you thought the crazy news was over there, did you? Well, Indie Revolver continued the war of ‘Star Wars’ scoops with two pieces of concept art, hastily photographed and heavily watermarked. Yes, that is old Han Solo, sporting a Hoth-appropriate coat in the first image and a badass duster in the second.

Indie RevolverIndie Revolver

But Han doesn’t only have a new look this time around. If Badass Digest is to be believed, he’ll also have a new ride. Pretty much every sentence in the paragraph below should make a seasoned ‘Star Wars’ fan’s jaw drop:

According to my sources Han and Chewie are piloting a Super Star Destroyer. I wasn’t 100% sure on this, but the image of Han with Imperial rank sells me.

I believe the Falcon is in the hands of Oscar Isaac’s character, who is very much the Lando Calrissian of this movie – all the way down to wearing a cape.

There are other familiar spaceships in this movie, incuding three variations on TIE Fighters. There’s the classic design, the TIE Interceptor and a new generation TIE Bomber – the pods on these are stacked, not side-by-side.

Oh, and back to Han – you will get to see him use a lightsaber once again.

Wait. What? The fact that everything there is nothing like what we expected is exciting news. Why is Han piloting a Super Star Destroyer? Why does Oscar Isaac have the Millennium Falcon? Those are incredible questions and they’re the last questions we thought we’d be asking.

Let’s get real: it’s starting to sound like ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ is going to be taking some huge risks and taking some crazy left turns. For a franchise that has been (fairly) accused of being stale, this is exactly what we were hoping for.

Anyway, Making Star Wars claims to have a description of Daisy Ridley’s costume, which includes (spoiler?) a lightsaber:

Daisy Ridley’s costume:
The details are very general but the costume gives the idea that this character might be more comfortable in a seedy spaceport than at a gala event.
The artwork shows a slender brunette figure wearing clothing with a grey and brown palette. She wears a dark blue sash at the waist that hangs down at the back and one side at about thigh level. Her shirt arms have a few utilitarian looking straps attached and it covers both midriff and chest completely. She may wear gloves and have “star wars” type wraps on the forearms.
She wears a few pouches and belts.
A lightsaber is clasped in her hand…

And it looks like fans of Admiral Ackbar will be pleased, since his brethren will apparently play a prominent role in the new film according to Jedi News:

The beloved Mon Calamari of the planet Dac will be gracing our screens in Episode VII and not just in a background role. Just like their appearance in Return of the Jedi, at least one Mon Cal will be front and centre in a leading character role.

Finally, supposed ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ bad guy Adam Driver spoke to Entertainment Weekly about filming the most anticipated movie in history. Here’s him talking about the scale of the production:

The thing about Star Wars that’s so good—sure there’s this huge [canvas]. It’s space, it’s a long time ago in a galaxy far away. That’s set up immediately. But in the midst of all those things, what has made those movies last so long is that they’re all grounded, which is something that is not so far off from every movie with huge universal themes of siblings and parents and betrayal and trust. That’s so generic and obvious, but it’s hard to balance those things. When you break all of those things down, really it’s just because someone wasn’t loved enough or felt betrayed. That’s what makes those movies so universal. I think they can get in your mind in big and sweeping ways.

And here’s him on what he loves about the original trilogy:

I always think back to the original movies and to those quieter moments where Luke is out in A New Hope, and there are the two suns setting, and it’s just such a quiet moment. It is the equivalent, basically, of a farm boy dying to get out of his small town and do something bigger. It’s those kinds of universal themes that ground this whole thing in space.

‘Star Wars Rebels’ Has a Premiere Date

With all of this talk about ‘Star Wars: Episode 7,’ it’s easy to forget that ‘Star Wars Rebels’ is right around the corner. In fact, it finally has a premiere date: October 3, 2014. If recent rumors are to be believed, this series will ultimately tie very closely into the new films, so make sure you watch closely.

Oh, and an action-packed new clip from the series has popped up, so get watching:

No, the Unaltered Original Trilogy is Not Coming Yet

You probably heard the rumor that the original, unaltered ‘Star Wars’ trilogy was finally heading to DVD and Blu-ray, with a release date timed to coincide with ‘Star Wars: Episode 7.’ And yes, you probably rejoiced and cheered and got really excited and shared the news with all of your friends.

20th Century Fox, who distributed the original trilogy, owns the worldwide theatrical, nontheatrical, and home video distribution rights for all six ‘Star Wars’ films until 2020. It is now 2014. Next year will be 2015. The year after will be 2016… You see where we’re going with this? And, even if Disney were waiting until 2020 to get their grubby little mouse hands on ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ and ‘Return of the Jedi,’ they still wouldn’t have the rights to ‘A New Hope’, which Fox owns in perpetuity (translation: forever).

So there you go. Maybe we’ll finally get a proper set with George Lucas kicks the bucket, but we’re not going to wish death on anyone, even if he made the prequels.

Rian Johnson Says the Right Stuff

We know that J.J. Abrams is stepping away from the ‘Star Wars’ director’s chair after ‘Star Wars: Episode 7′ and Rian Johnson, the tremendous filmmaker behind ‘Looper,’ is stepping up for ‘Star Wars: Episode 8.’ And even though Johnson’s entry is literally over four years away, he’s already talking about it. In an interview with Collider, he spoke about the visual effects of the new trilogy:

They’re doing so much practical building for this one. It’s awesome. They’re doing it all right, yeah … I think people are coming back around to [practical effects], yeah, it feels like there is sort of that gravity pulling us back towards it … I think that more and more people are hitting kind of a critical mass in terms of the CG-driven action scene lending itself to a very specific type of action scene, where physics go out the window and it becomes so big so quick. I probably sound like a grumpy old man talking about it, but the thing is, I do wonder because I think kids are growing up watching those and that’s the thing that they love now so I don’t know whether it is a generational thing, and it could be.

Johnson is a bonafide geek and like all real geeks, he loves his sets, models and practical effects. The fact that this guy is making a ‘Star Wars’ movie is just great news. This universe is at its best when it’s physical and tactile.

Social Media Hints and Teases

Social media is probably not the best place to get accurate news about about a top secret motion picture currently taking over one of the world’s largest sound stages. However, it’s a perfect place to mine a little gossip.

So let’s start with this picture of director J.J. Abrams, Daisy Ridley and John Boyega hanging out and having a good time. Nothing too suspicious, right? BUT LOOK BEHIND THEM!

Yes, that is Edgar Wright, director of ‘Shaun of the Dead,’ ‘The World’s End’ and ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.’ Yes, the guy who almost directed ‘Ant-Man.’ Yes, the geek icon who everyone loves and would love to see direct a ‘Star Wars’ movie…

Look, we don’t want to assume anything, but wouldn’t Wright fit right in with the likes of Rian Johnson, Josh Trank and Gareth Edwards on the list of modern filmmakers hired to make ‘Star Wars’ movies? Just sayin.’

These ‘Star Wars’ Board Games Will Murder Your Wallet

Before you go, we should warn you: you’re going to be very, very poor in a few months.

Glossy board game publisher Fantasy Flight Games are continuing to mine the ‘Star Wars’ license for all its worth and their next game is Star Wars: Imperial Assault. A modified version of their extremely popular dungeon crawler Descent: Journeys in the Dark, the game has several players take control of several individual Rebel heroes while one player controls the Imperial forces. Just … just look at it!

Fantasy Flight GamesFantasy Flight Games

Yeah, totally worth $100. Seriously.

Fantasy Flight Games also revealed its plan to keep its incredibly successful X-Wing miniatures game alive. In addition to Rebel and Imperial ships, players will soon be able to take control of “Scum and Villainy” characters, bringing criminals and bounty hunters into the fray. As you’d expect, the ships look terrific.

Fantasy Flight Games

Finally, it was revealed that, going forward, Fantasy Flight Games is going to be in close contact with Lucasfilm since the new movies will affect what they can and cannot do with new games.

CP noted that the upcoming Star Wars movie has had some effect on what they can do with X-Wing & other releases. Must keep history true! WEM

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